Before Psycho, Peeping Tom, and Repulsion, there was Diabolique. This 1955 thriller from French director Henri‑Georges Clouzot follows the events of a murder plot in a small French provincial school. Tired of being mistreated by abusive headmaster Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse), his frail wife, Christina (Vera Clouzot), and his mistress, Nicole (Simone Signoret), plot to kill their tormentor. When Michel's body goes missing, however, the women soon realise their plan is not as straightforward as they first thought.
With its unprecedented narrative twists and terrifying images, Diabolique is a heart-grabbing benchmark in horror filmmaking and is a must-have for all world cinema fans. The new Criterion Collection Blu-ray release includes the following special features…
• New digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • Selected-scene commentary by French-film scholar Kelley Conway • New video introduction by Serge Bromberg, codirector of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Inferno” • New video interview with novelist and film critic Kim Newman • Original theatrical trailer • PLUS: An essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty
